A/n: I've rewritten part of this because I didn't like it much and there was a whole chunk I accidentally repeated from chapter five. Sorry about that, guys.

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Chapter 6:

The X7s were worried. None of their handlers had picked up on the tension in the group; perhaps the only member of staff who could have done so was Lydecker. He was the only person to consider that the X series could have emotions, bonds of love and fellowship that forged them into their tight knit units.

The hive minds of the X7 group meant that each of them sensed the feelings of all the others; and the void where X7 452 had always been was disquieting to them all. The last messages they'd received from her were confusing in themselves; the enemy that had shot their sister had risked his own life to help her get the medical treatment she needed. The action went completely against the military training that was their only behavioural example.

It was in the middle of the night that the whole group felt the void filled as she regained consciousness.

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Max should have been the happiest she'd ever been in her life. She was out on the open road, with her motorcycle purring beneath her and the wind whipping her hair back from her face. Zack rode his Ducati just in front of her while Krit and Syl brought up the rear in the beat up Cadillac they'd arrived in. Lydecker was bound and blindfolded in the back seat. They were on their way to the reunion she'd longed for for the past eleven years. No one was chasing them. They were safe, and free, and she should have been happy.

But suddenly there was something missing; or rather someone. Logan.

When exactly did I start depending on him so much? She asked herself as she rode. I mean I've got my family back; why do I still need Logan? They were the reason I hooked up with him in the first place. I only went along with all those Eyes Only missions so he'd help me find them.

And then I stopped going to see if he had any info for me yet and started going just to be with him. To watch him while he slept on his keyboard, to force him to feed me when I knew he'd pulled another all-nighter on his mission and forgotten to eat. To kick his ass at chess without paying attention so I could just enjoy looking at him, feeling him near me. To let him be strong for me, whenever it got too much. To make me feel safe… And to make sure that he was ok, he was still there, he'd always be there for me if I needed him. Because I do need him, more than I ever thought possible.

Maybe Original Cindy was right about the whole love dealio. Maybe that's what it is, the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when he's in danger. The gooey thing that happens when he smiles at me. The way Normal's wrath is worth putting up with just so I can sneak over to see him in my breaks. The way I miss him so much that I'd turn around and go back if I found out he'd come home.

I wonder if he'll ever forgive himself for killing the X7. He still hasn't gotten over Cape Haven, and I'm not sure he will. There's some part of him that can't justify taking life, no matter what the reason. If it wasn't for the pulse he'd probably have wound up campaigning for human rights for the third world; I guess that is what Eyes Only does, protect those without a voice.

Zack slowed suddenly, heading for an off ramp to a small gas station. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Max followed. The four X5s parked outside the dilapidated diner and were about to head inside when Max suddenly did a double take towards the freeway, her pupils dilating until the irises all but disappeared.

"Max? What is it?" Asked Krit in concern. She turned back towards him, her eyes regaining normal focus.

"I thought I saw…" she began, and then stopped. "It's nothing. Let's go in; I hear the caffeine calling." From the scowl on Zack's face, Max guessed he'd seen that the object of her attention had been a dusty blue SUV.

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The X7s marvelled at the images projected to them by their wounded sister; they were clearer this time, since she wasn't bleeding to death while trying to send them. The X5's attempt at conversation could well have been a diversionary tactic designed to delay and confuse her opponent, and as such was rightly ignored by the younger transgenic. She moved to fire, but before she could pull the trigger white-hot lead tore into her chest and she was flat on her back in the dirt. Through a haze of pain, she barely heard the quiet name.

"Logan?"

Then gentle hands were lifting her, checking her wound, holding her close with a tenderness she'd never even imagined could exist.

"It's ok," Logan told the girl, voice trembling. "This isn't bad. I'm so sorry..."

Soldiers weren't supposed to act like this! Didn't he know she was an X7, one of the most advanced killing machines ever made? Why would an enemy apologise for killing her? It didn't make any sense.

"Why? You're the enemy," she said, confusion mingling with the pain in her voice.

"I'm not your enemy," said Logan softly, stroking her close cropped hair. "We came here to help you." Help her? This made even less sense. Manticore was her life; she lived to serve the project that had created her. And how could she be helped by being attacked?

"But... you shot me..."

"I couldn't let you kill her..." A tear spilled onto his cheek. "Forgive me."

The words reverberated again and again in her head. He asked her to forgive him for shooting her, most likely killing her, even though by doing so he had saved one of his own unit. The X7 would have happily killed a hundred enemies to protect her unit; and she certainly wouldn't have cared what they thought of her.

The X5 came to kneel beside them, her soft voice interrupting her younger counterpart's turbulent thoughts. "Logan, we have to go. They'll be on to us any minute."

"No... I can't leave her. She'll bleed out." Why should he care? He was the one who caused her injury in the first place; he should be finishing her off and making good his own escape.

"She's a soldier, Logan, not a child. She would have killed me without a thought."

"I know, Max; but I'm not... and she's so young... she looks just like you..." Max? The female was X series, like her; what need did she have of a name when she had a designation? Then again, she was a traitor; it seemed the outside world could corrupt even Manticore's finest.

"She's a clone. Recycled DNA. There's probably a dozen more just like her looking for us. We have to leave her."

"Like you left Brin?" Her puzzlement only deepened. Who could this Brin be? Another rogue?

"That's different and you know it. Come on, we have to get out of here." The gentle arms tightened around her slender form and she felt herself being lifted. Were they going to take her prisoner of war? Why? What was their objective? To gain Manticore technology?

"What the hell are you doing? Your legs are unreliable as it is!"

"I'm taking her back. They can fix her up in there. It's ok, honey, you'll be fine."

Honey? What's honey? Why is he calling me that? Why is he walking back into Manticore? He'll be killed!

"Logan, that's suicide! Are you totally insane?"

"Go back to the van," he said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

There was a blur of painful movement and activity and the X7 found herself deposited on the ground once more. Her vision began to grey as the X5 lifted the unconscious form of Logan onto her shoulder. For a moment, X7 452 found herself looking into her own eyes before the woman turned and was gone.

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Renfro strode into the infirmary, covering her eagerness with false concern as X7 452 tried to get up and salute, causing her obvious pain.

"At ease, 452," she said. "How are your injuries?"

"I am recovering adequately, ma'am," the girl informed her, deadpan.

"Excellent. Now, report. I want to know everything you remember about the man who shot you."

"He is a civilian, ma'am; his name is Logan."

"I know that, the others told me. I want some detail, something to help us track him down. Think, soldier, did he say anything, do anything that we could use?"

"I heard him mention the name Brin," she volunteered, "and he referred to one of the rogue X5s as 'Max'."

"That only proves he's in the confidence of the rogues; what else? Give me something to go on, soldier, or your whole unit will be on 24 hour perimeter patrol for a week!"

"The X5 said something about him being defective," the X7 told her. Renfro leaned in until she was only inches from the injured child.

"Defective in what way? What were her exact words?"

"She said, "Your legs are unreliable as it is," ma'am."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am," the girl replied, surprised that she should ask.

"Well done, X7 452," said Renfro, an almost predatory smile forming on her features. "I think that piece of information may be the key to saving the whole Manticore project." The director swept out, leaving the child soldier lying back on her bed trying to work out the unfamiliar emotion she was experiencing. The only thing she could compare it to was when her brother 493 had been wounded by a bullet from her gun during a live ordnance drill.

The trouble was, this wasn't something she could atone for with punishment; she'd have to figure out how to get rid of it on her own.

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This chapter only got two reviews last time; let me know if you thought this version was better.